Introduction: About Philo4Thought
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Philo4Thought is a 501(c)3 philanthropic educational nonprofit foundation created to help today’s young professional achieve success in work and in life. The initiative started out as a small local project to inspire college students through a series of networking events with a series of peer and senior mentors. As we gained momentum we launched a small advisory webpage of inspirational and instructional articles, which were well received. Today we have over 85,000 global readers and clients and are constantly planning community outreach initiatives to offer guidance as needed.

MENTORING: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE

Before launching the Philo4Thought initiative, our CEO served as a professor, grant writer, and mentor to young professionals and college students, starting a small informal peer mentoring discussion group. For more about the personal journey that led to the establishment of Philo4Thought’s Hellenic Mentoring Initiative, click here.

In 2013 we launched our monthly Young Professional of the Month (#YPM) series and also merged with Quill’s Edge tutorial services to run monthly tutorial workshops for students and young professionals in New York and the surrounding area.

We also started hosting monthly small-group mentoring sessions to help students and professionals address a variety of work-life issues they’re having. Guest speakers are often invited to address specific topics of interest such as resume development, online profile development, work productivity, organization and time management, health and fitness, business etiquette, giving the perfect pitch, professional style/attire, etc.

In 2014 we launched our annual Spring Conference, which is designed to educate up-and-coming Hellenes as they advance in their professional and academic lives. These and our related cultural events help show the community that we are able to work in solidarity and to provide adequate support for our young people.

We also began encouraging local youth and young professionals to contribute original writing indicating their outlooks on specific topics, including education, culture, fashion, health, etc. Voicing their opinions and concerns helps our readers see that they are not the only ones carrying these concerns. Keep an eye out for these under Articles & Hot Topics.

In 2015 we’ve teamed up with several other community organizations to offer our members the strongest learning and networking opportunities possible. Our ongoing support of established student organizations, professional development initiatives and small businesses has led to some wonderful alliances.

We’ve established Annual Membership dues to facilitate registration to our monthly events. Members have FREE access to our monthly seminar discussions and will receive discounted rates at annual activities hosted by Philo4Thought and its affiliates. Members can also opt to be listed on our new Professional Directory.

Our Professional Directory features the best experts in a variety of industries. The directory will officially launch on Founders Day in October 2015, but readers are welcome to browse through it now to see what service providers we have available at this time.

For 2016, we are looking to produce online video tutorials to benefit our now global community. We are working hard to incorporate video feeds and online tutorial services for the coming year. We’re launching a series of fundraising activities in 2015 to help cover the production costs. We are also looking to bring other organizations together for more synchronized collaborative educational and cultural events.

Small #CareerBuzz thinktank groups are being set up via Google Hangouts shortly. We are also looking into establishing a Summer Scholars Initiative (#2014HSSI/#2015HSSI) for college/graduate students and up-and-coming young professionals.

Our Target Audience… is YOU!While we have readers and supporters from all walks of life, our target audience is the Hellenic Young Professional (#HYP) 21-40. We do have a small Hellenic Teen Beat (#HYTeenBeat) group of readers (in high school) to meet a direct community demand and we will continue our outreach initiatives in the years to come, fostering the concepts of #Philotemo, #PositiveProfessionalIdentity and #ConfidentNetworking for today’s #YoungProfessional.

One question we commonly get is “Why is Philo4Thought a ‘Hellenic Mentoring Initiative’?” The answer is two-fold. First, our programs and publications are based on a spirit of giving that is essentially Hellenic in nature. The majority of the lessons provided are grounded in the ancient principles of Aristotle and other great philosophers from the Greek community, which we use to help today’s youth thrive. Secondly, our group is here to help Hellenes and Philhellenes everywhere to find the opportunities they need to succeed in work and in life.

The most popular question we’ve received when we first opened our doors is, “What if I’m not… a young professional?” In simple terms, if you need help, write to us and we will do our best to help place you with someone who can address your professional concern(s). We are here to provide support and/or direct you to the appropriate network. Clear and simple. Our articles, job boards, events, referral services… are all here for the community.

Building Professional Parea:Our original concept was to write “Silver Lining” stories that inspired the founder and the original 12-person parea. For example, “God never sends you anything you’re not equipped to handle.” Communities are here to help and support each other. We’re so pleased and honored to have so many new readers and participants today! P4T Membership options are available to those who are interested in attending our monthly events for a discounted flat rate.

Mentor Matching: We offer one-on-one Mentor Matching — career mentoring by local entrepreneurs, instructors and vocational specialists in a variety of professional fields and academic disciplines. Our Peer Mentoring team is featured in our Young Professional of the Month (#YPM) postings and email us for details on how to become/to nominate a YPM.

Monthly Events & Publications:Monthly small-group and individual advisory services include discussions and publications about Professional Development, Work-Life balance, Social Media Development, Professional Networking, and related topics. Business Correspondence and Etiquette lessons are also available for small groups and one-on-one. Tickets to group events are available on Eventbrite. A list of related events and publications hosted by other wonderful organizations and service providers are also available on our Facebook Page and on the Twitter Feed (to the right of this screen)!

Fundraising & Community Outreach:In the spirit of preserving our Hellenic roots, we host community fundraisers in the Fall and Winter to help cover the administrative and technical costs of our publications and events. in September 2014 we hosted a Tavli Tournament & Food Expo at Minos Syllogo in Astoria NY; in November 2014 we hosted our Accents & Image Brunch/Accessory Drive; in January 2015 we hosted our Holiday Party at The Greek in Tribeca NY. We will continue to host similar events in the future to promote what has become a growing #ProfessionalParea and to educate our Hellenes and Philhellenes about the strong cultural and philosophical roots that sustain Philo4Thought’s initiatives. Please “follow” this page for announcements and updates!

Questions? Comments? Young Professional Nominations? Speaker/Mentor Requests?Please email Philo4Thought@yahoo.com for appointments and pricing for specific events.